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A large-scale video projection in the heart of the Age of Mammals hall establishes the core theme of the exhibition: that as continents move, climates change, and mammals evolve.

This motion graphics piece depicts—in three minutes—the global events that have shaped our planet’s trajectory over the past 65 million years. Projected on a large central glass screen, the looped media program is a cinematic overture for the entire exhibition. Headlines punctuate the action as major global events, such as a giant meteor strike, ice ages, and shifting tectonic plates play out on the beautiful blue-green canvas of our planet. Visitors witness how continental movement affects the planet’s climate, and how we mammals have responded, migrated, adapted, and flourished throughout the Cenozoic Era.

Press & Awards

The creative team at Second Story developed interactive touch-screen experiences for visitors to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, US. Narrative and engagement were at the centre of the design to engage visitors with the exhibits.

AIGA | 365 | Design Effectiveness 2011, Award Recipient, October 2011

The 135 selections from the “365 | Design Effectiveness 2011” competition exemplify the most effective current work in communication design, as chosen by a distinguished jury of design peers. The overriding criterion for inclusion in the show is excellence as the successful pairing of effectiveness and aesthetics.

23rd Annual Excellence in Exhibition Competition, American Association of Museums, Special Achievement in Clarity of Message, May 2011

“Cenozoic L. A. Stories,”Science, Debra Pires, October 2010

Interactive kiosks included in each major section of the exhibition allow visitors to examine change in habitats over time, explore relationships among different groups of mammals, learn more about the morphology and behavior of the animals, and quiz themselves about mammalian biology. The displays and interactive media seem quite effective at conveying information. Even those who have never had a course in evolution will probably find the phylogenetic tree of mammals easy to understand. As an educator, I was encouraged by watching children between the ages of 6 and 12 work on a topic at a touch screen until they had figured out.